Chickens require a diet filled with essential vitamins and nutrients for overall health and productivity, making treats an effective way of providing some of this while simultaneously increasing confidence and happiness levels.
Always ensure any fruits or vegetables given as treats contain low levels of sugar and any pits and seeds have been removed, especially citrus fruit which could compromise egg quality.
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Fruits and Vegetables
Chickens are omnivorous animals and enjoy eating fruits, vegetables, seeds, grains and meat alike. Unfortunately, certain foods are unhealthy for them or even toxic.
Cooked Rice – Chickens tend to enjoy snacking on cooked rice, which contains high carbs with minimal nutritional value but makes for a fun treat. Cucumber – Cucumber can keep chickens hydrated during hot summers by providing essential hydration.
Pumpkin Seeds – Pumpkin seeds make an irresistibly satisfying snack that both provide protein-rich nutrition for humans and chickens, and may help deworm them!
Kale – Dark leafy greens such as kale are packed full of essential nutrients, making it the ideal winter treat.
Herbs – Oregano helps repel bugs in the coop; mint keeps away flies and mosquitoes; basil acts as a natural blood thinner to aid digestion; while parsley offers additional nutrition during molting season. All four herbs can be dried out and placed around your coop for your chickens to peck at!
Scratch Grains
Chickens love scratch grains and other treats that are good for them in moderation – though be wary of any foods such as avocado pits/skins/garlic/chocolate/rotten food that might alter the flavor of their eggs.
Scratch grain likely first came to existence when early farmers fed extra or uneaten livestock feed to their poultry flock in order not to waste it, along with fresh leaves, grass and weeds from their yard or fields that encouraged natural pecking foraging instincts in birds.
Modern scratch mixes offer high-quality nutrition to support the flock’s natural foraging behaviors and complement complete feeds. But be wary of overfeeding the bird as this could dilute consumption of complete feeds, leading to weight gain, shorter molts, or summer doldrums in egg production. Also provide additional grit and oyster shell supplements for improved feed digestion and stronger egg shells.
Meat
Chickens are omnivorous creatures and will enjoy eating treats rich in proteins as part of their daily feed ration. Just beware not to offer too many treats with excessive protein levels as this could offset any benefits provided by complete layer feeds.
One of the easiest and tastiest ways to give your flock an all-natural meat snack is by creating suet cakes using beef fat. Simply warm and mix liquified fat until it becomes smooth, breaking up any clumps with a large spoon before mixing in your seed mixture and pouring the whole thing into muffin tins or other suitable molds to form the treat before leaving it cool before feeding to your flock.
Scrambled eggs make an easy and delectable treat that your flock is sure to love – perfect for offering during molting season! This protein-packed treat should make for great giveaways this fall season.
Eggs
Chickens love eggs as treats, but keep in mind that treats should only make up 10% of their overall diet. Furthermore, egg laying hens shouldn’t receive treats more than twice or three times weekly as too many treats can lead them to becoming overweight which negatively affects their laying capabilities.
Other treats for chickens may include poultry blocks containing whole grains and seeds that promote instinctual pecking and scratching behavior in your flock. You could also freeze foods like frozen berries, watermelons and mango for snacking during hot days. Be wary when selecting food to feed to your flock though as beans, too much dairy products and moldy bread may make them sick, while giving raw eggs can encourage laying hens to start eating eggs of other hens which could potentially prove fatal for their lives.
